


Of Authors, Exes, and Hellfire

by SarcasticMusician



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hilda is going to meet the cain pit after this I'm sure, I use the name Lilith, Jealous!Lilith, Small thing but major pet peeve of mine to use Mary, We all know how sentimental authors can be, Zelda's old flame is an author, but fluff for sure, just fluff, okay Zelda history too I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 13:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17264816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarcasticMusician/pseuds/SarcasticMusician
Summary: Lilith is jealous, Zelda is annoyed, Sabrina is nosey. What more could we want? What more could we expect?





	Of Authors, Exes, and Hellfire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! New to the fandom, not knew to the writing thing. All mistakes are my own but I'll definitely blame my computer, cat, dog, keyboard, and Satan herself before accepting the blame. 
> 
> In an effort to receive comments and fuel my needy soul for said comments, let's start a convo. I have just deleted all of my dating apps because if I receive one more threesome invite I may burry myself in that Cain pit. What's your worst first date and/or online dating story? (Or you could also just say how cool I am, dealer's choice). 
> 
> As always, I'm over on tumblr as: adlerre.

The sizzling of pans and murmurs from the kitchen greet their ears as Zelda and Lilith make their way into the home's warmth. They shrug off their coats in the entry, Zelda making sure to straighten each one in swift turn; meanwhile Lilith ensures hers is just a bit crooked - not enough to earn a telling off, but an eye roll is her well-earned reward. 

It's the little things. 

A smirk and quick kiss to the cheek are Zelda's. 

It's the little things. 

"-Roz thinks it may even have some sapphic tendencies. It would have been one of the earliest in mortal literature! She was beyond ahead of her time."

"Sounds like a story worth reading." Lilith remarks, announcing their presence as they make their way to the kitchen's table

"Definitely something worth banning, apparently."

"All the more reason to read it."

"Definitely. It's our new book for the club. I think you would all like it, it has everything! History for you, Lilith; Romance for Auntie Hilda; and even some magic for you, Auntie Z."

"Magic?" Zelda's voice sounds through her paper, the corner dipping slightly as she locks eyes with Sabrina's excited gaze

"Arguably. One of the characters -the love interest, Aunt Hilda" A nod to said aunt and she's back to meeting Zelda's intrigued gaze, "she seems to do most of our customs. The yule log almost religiously, and even what I'd argue as a familiar. Granted it was a puppy so… that may not add up entirely."

"Excuse you." The paper rise again. "Vinegar Tom is a perfectly adequate familiar. It's those dreadful spiders of Hilda's that lead one to question things."

A tsk from Hilda is her only response. 

"What happens in the story, dear?" Hilda asks, enchanting the pot to stir on it's own as she begins the chopping of vegetables

“You’ll have to read it Auntie! No spoilers allowed.”

“So be it.” She replies on a wink “What did you say it was again? I can see if we have it in the shop.” 

“A Violet Life by Mildred Crede. You can borrow mine when I'm done if you-"

Hilda’s hand slips as her rhythmic chopping runs out of sync. The clatter of her knife falling onto -then from- the counter accompanied by a quick jump back from Sabrina and Hilda; swift with the ease of a practiced matriarch, Zelda flicks her wrist catching the knife barely inches from the ground before directing it to the counter. 

“Hilda, for Satan’s sake!” 

“Sorry, sorry!” Hilda stutters out on a breath

Lilith bites back a comment on Zelda’s quick reflexes, but her smirk acts as a dead give away to those thoughts. 

“Are you okay?” Sabrina asks, returning to leaning against the kitchen island

“Yes, yes. Just a bit distracted. What with talk of Mildred is all. It’s been a long time since I’ve- I mean, it’s interesting to learn of her. A nice story.”

"Wait. You knew her, Auntie?” 

Panic in her widened eyes, Hilda searches for Zelda’s own cursing the pages blocking her view. 

“Just....briefly. More of a friend of a friend to be fair.” 

Following Hilda's steady gaze, Sabrina can't help but shift her intrigue to her paper-hidden aunt. Lilith's own quirked eyebrow and eyes display her own curiosity. 

Zelda's paper crinkles slightly in her grasp, annoyance at her sister's anxiety radiating through the room. She clears her throat striving to look as unaffected as ever. Unaffected to the untrained eye; however, no one under the roof was untrained in the actions and reactions of one Zelda Spellman. 

Lilith remains quiet, observing the tension between siblings and Sabrina’s slowing excitement.

“Ahead of her time?” Lilith's prompt doesn’t go unnoticed as Sabrina’s excitement returns, and Zelda is thankful for her paper's shield as her steadying breath is hidden

“She was revolutionary in the fight for women’s rights in London. The book is supposedly an allegory for her struggle but had to be written discreetly, you know?”

“Men.” The word slides from Lilith's mouth, distaste evident

Sabrina's nod and accompanying eye roll are the spitting image of her Aunt.

“She believed in the strength of women, even refusing to write under a man’s name! She made practically no money during her lifetime but in death...” 

“We shall hope time has finally caught up to her.” Zelda adds, tone softened  

“Best get ready for dinner! Sabrina, set the table would you?” Hilda announces, hoping to redirect the conversation

“What aren’t you telling us, Auntie?” 

“Uh. Nothing, nothing. The plates, please, Sabrina.” 

A dog with a bone would let up easier than Sabrina, they all knew it. Lilith decided to sit back and enjoy the ride, feeling more like part of the family at every moment yet still unsure of her place within it. 

Plates sat. Food served. Drinks poured. Ambrose present.

Not even a bite in and Sabrina has begun. 

“Ambrose, do you know anything about Mildred Crede?” 

A choking cough. Dual glances at Zelda, a tightened grip on her fork her only tell. 

Lilith’s hand slips to her knee with a slight squeeze. Ever supportive, ever watching.

“I would think she’d be Auntie Z’s area of expertise, cousin.”

“How-“ 

“For Satan's sake, Sabrina. Mily was a friend of mine.” Zelda announced, a sigh falling from her lips

“A close friend." Hilda chuckled

“Very close some might say.” A smirk from Ambrose 

“Exceedingly clo-“

A glare stops Hilda in her tracks. 

Lilith’s hand tightens possessively on Zelda’s knee as pieces begin to fall into place. 

Glancing from cousin to aunt, to aunt's girlfriend to aunt again, Sabrina begins to catch on.

“You dated her?"

“Dating sounds beyond childish, Sabrina.”

“But you did.”

A dismissive wave is her only response as Zelda begins to retreat from the conversation with her at its center. 

“I’d like to hear more about this....Mildred.” Rolls off of Lilith's tongue, the table watching as she far too calmly skewers a green bean. 

A sharp glare from Zelda is met with one of her own.

"This is hardly of any importance to any of you." Zelda directs her words to the group as a whole

"I'd beg to differ." Sabrina's voice sounds 

"I'd follow suit." Lilith agrees

"It's a good thing neither of you have the final say." 

"Auntie Hilda?" 

"Ah, ah. I refuse to visit the cain pit so soon. I have work in the morning."

A huff, and Sabrina's eyes roam to her cousin. 

"Ambrose?" 

A sharp look from Zelda, has his head shaking in laughter. 

"She was an author, was she not?" He says with a wink

"Yes. Yes, she was." A glance between cousins has Sabrina catching on. "Have you read 'A Violet Life'?"

"I can't say that I finished it. I found the characters a little too...familiar." Ambrose chuckled, feeling the ice from his aunt's glare as he watches her girlfriend's face contort along with his cousin's

"Please tell me, you're not saying what I think you're saying." Sabrina begs, mind reviewing the books pages

"What were the character's names again? Rose and what was it? Zoey, Zelma,.."

"Oh my god! You're Zelah? I have to wash my brain." 

Zelda fights her blush as Hilda keeps her eyes on her plate, Lilith's own turning sharper by the moment. 

"What-," Lilith's throat works to clear her jealousy before she continues, "What exactly happens in this story?"

"At times it's definitely closer to one of Auntie Hilda's books, if you know what I mean." Ambrose comments, a pained look suddenly filling his face as a sharp kick meets his shin. "Auntie Z!"

"That would be me, darling. No need to be so crass." Hilda comments, face reddening alongside her sister's

"I'm sure she took a few liberties." Zelda comments, eyes working to catch Lilith's burning gaze

"Please tell me the garden bit wasn't-" The look on Zelda's face was answer enough, "Auntie Z!" 

"It was years ago." A wave of the hand. "Years ago, Lilith. You can turn off the hellfire eyes."

Lilith refuses to meet her gaze, instead holding steady at the wall beyond Hilda's shoulder. "What exactly happened in this garden section?"

Sabrina's shuddered "Don't make me relive that." is accompanied by Ambrose's own, "I'm sure you can guess."

Sabrina slides her plate away from her nearly turning as green as Lilith's thoughts. 

Taking in this as well as her girlfriend's radiating anger, Zelda retreats into her aloof mask. "Honestly, I'm surrounded by children." 

"Auntie, we all know that wasn't child friendly"

"That's quite enough, Ambrose." 

Silence reigns as Lilith continues to murder her meal in place of her girlfriend's long-dead lover. 

"If that bit was true, as mentally scarring as it was." Sabrina rushes out, hoping to get her questions out before her aunt can interrupt. "Was the box part true also?" 

"Box?" Lilith repeats, murder in her voice at the concept's potential 

Zelda's soft smile gives her away, glance veering into the living room and settling on the fireplace's mantel.

Following the gaze, Sabrina is quick to race into the living room. Grasping the intricately carved box with wonder in her eyes, she glances back to her aunt unwilling to open it without her blessing.

"Go on, dear. I'm sure you already know much of what it contains." Zelda's voice floats into the room. 

With a smile of her own, Sabrina brings the box back to her seat. Scooting her chair closer to her Aunt's, she places the box between the two of them. 

"Sentimental." Lilith mutters. Another eye roll. Another green bean stabbed. Another green thought assaulting her. 

"Oh hush." Zelda retaliates, "Write a book for me and maybe I'll keep a memento of yours in the future." 

"Unlike Ms. Crede I don't intend to lose you any time soon, Spellman."

Hilda can't help but grin at Lilith's grumble and her sister's answering -albeit, barely hidden- smile. 

Ignoring the woman to her right as best she can with the smile rudely growing on her own face, Zelda keeps her eyes on the box. Fingers tracing the carved edges chasing dust from its lid. 

An excited giggle rises from Hilda's mouth as she pulls her own chair to Sabrina's left.

"I remember how nervous Mildred was to give this to you. She had checked each piece with me to make sure your Aunt Zelda would like it." Hilda sighed, mind conjuring the image of the rambling brunette from years ago

"You're a traitor, Hilda." Lilith's voice rings out, her eyes promising the cain pit all their own

"This was over a century ago, Lilith. I'd do the same for you." 

"Regardless."

"Lilith." Zelda's voice admonishes, one word snapping the woman's mouth closed with huff. 

Sabrina's gasp as the box squeaks open interrupts the moment. 

"It's beautiful, Auntie Z." She comments, taking in the velvet lining, shiny metals, and elegant cursive carefully spelling out her aunt's name. 

"That it is."

"This bit was my favorite." Hilda piped up, hand grasping the stalled pocket watch from within

"Author's are such sentimental fools." Zelda recounts

"Says the woman who kept a box of mementos." 

"Lilith?"

"Yes?"

Zelda quickly leans over to place a kiss on Lilith's cheek, a rare public occurrence. "As good as you look in green, it doesn't suit your mind."

Feeling the smoothness of the watch in her hand, Sabrina allows her mind to take in the pieces of her Aunt's life this day has uncovered. Her heart begins to warm at both the care obviously contained in the box, as well as the care protruding from the couple to her right.

The scratch of an engraving pauses her absent flipping of the watch. 

" _ The moment in time frozen for us - 18th of August, 1859 _ ." She reads, curiosity lacing her words, "What happened at-" Another flip of the watch to see the time. "2:37 on the August 18th?" 

"Their wedding." 

"What?!?" Joint shouts from Sabrina and Lilith are Ambrose's own reward

"A beautiful ceremony for sure. Auntie Zelda cried."

"Lilith, put out that fire." Zelda calmly requests, eyes cutting to the living room's fireplace and it's now raging fire. "It's far too warm in here for that. Now Ambrose, stop messing with these two. We never married. Only dated for a few month's as it was."

"Can you imagine your Auntie crying at such a thing? In public? Please." Hilda brushes away even the idea of such an occurrence, the corner of her eye catching the fire's dimming light -not gone but no longer a hazard. 

"What really happened?"

A giggle from one sister. A blush from the other. 

"Wait! Do I want to know?" 

Sabrina's traumatized face, and Lilith's answering: "Yes" draw a sigh from Zelda.

"It was the time of our first kiss. Really Sabrina, how risqué do you assume I am?" 

"Considering she wasn't around for our time in Bora Bora, I can definitely fill her in."

If Ambrose survives the night, it will surely be by Satan's will. 

Seeing the neglected plates, Zelda rises to take care of the dishes. A quick move of the hand and they are piling themselves and filing toward the kitchen, the witch in tow. If it gets her away from the conversation, well that's just an added plus. 

With a look back to her girlfriend, she is soon followed by the brunette. 

"Are you done pouting yet, dear?" 

"I'm not pouting in the least." Lilith remarked, "Demons don't pout." 

A raised eyebrow is her only response as Zelda ensures the plates join breakfasts' dishes neatly in the dishwasher.

"Apparently, demons don't fall in love and we both know that's not the case." Punctuates Zelda's closing of the dishwasher

Leaning against the island, arms on either side of her girlfriend, Zelda is sure to let her smile be seen. Guard dropping as Lilith's own melts. 

"I have been wrong before, I suppose."

A glance to the clock. "I'll have to get our own pocket watch. 8:43 on the 10th of January, Lilith admits she is not always right-" 

Zelda's smirk is met with Lilith's lips. Firm, slightly desperate, full of hope, full of love, green dissipating little by little. 

Lilith's tight grasp pulls her in, a soft moan driving the kiss to new levels. Driving thoughts of green from the brunette's mind. Nothing but the feel of the woman she loves in her arms, the soft waves of her hair, the slight nip on her lip, lingering in her mind. 

Zelda -ever the cautious- pulls back from the kiss, only to be chased by the lips she so adores. 

"They're waiting on the dessert, dear."

"So am I."

A chuckle breaks through the moment. 

"Really, Lilith? That was horrible." 

A soft nip to her lip turns Zelda's would be laugh into a softened sigh. 

"Let's go, dear." Zelda comments, letting her hand brush hair from Lilith's face, "It won't due to leave them unattended for too long." A small shake of the head is Zelda's attempt to clear her mind. "Besides, the sooner dessert is out, the sooner we can head up." 

A sigh. One last pull in and the couple break apart to make their way into the dining room. Zelda leaving first, Lilith's eyes tracking her movements before she swiftly follows grabbing the plate of cookies as she goes. 

Reaching the dining area she watches as Zelda gravitates to her earlier seat, leaning over slightly to look at the paper Sabrina is quickly scanning with soft eyes. 

"Thank you for sharing this with me, Auntie Z." 

Zelda's response is cut off by Hilda's "or should she address you as: Auntie Lovely Moon in Mildred's Night Sky?" 

The plater, cookies, and all, nearly hit the ground with only Zelda's reflexes as their savior. The fire begins to blaze. Hilda sees the promise of a dirt nap in her future. 

Totally worth it.

_______

If all copies vanished from Hilda's shop the following day, and if a bonfire warmed a cold night in the peaceful woods, and if Lilith's glare seemed glued to the mantle for the next week… Well, could you blame her? 

Zelda is a lot to hold. Zelda is a lot to lose. Zelda is a lot to love.

Zelda is a lot that Lilith doesn't intend to lose.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm prolonging my posting of this story with an additional note as I have convinced myself torches will come for me over the hills Salem-style. I like fluff, okay? Please don't be mad!!


End file.
